Need a few pointers on building your email list? Let’s start with the easy list-building strategies and we’ll ramp it up from there.

1. Add Opt-in Link to Your Email Signature

On the average, how many emails do you send daily? Ten? Twenty? More?

If you’re like most people, the answer is, “A lot.” Well, news flash – each of those emails you send is an opportunity to grow your email list. By placing a hyperlinked CTA (call to action) in your email signature, you have the ability to turn every recipient into a subscriber. At least, they get the opportunity.

2. Use PrintFriendly.com to Turn Popular Posts into Lead Magnets

“Want this cool bonus? It’s free! I just need your email address…”

Adding that sentence to the end of a blog post can do wonders for your email list. The problem? What if you don’t have the time to create any cool extra stuff to give out? Well, if you have 30 seconds to spare, you’re in luck.

30 seconds is all you need to convert one of your popular articles into a handy, easy-to-print, PDF file.

Here’s how to do that

Go to Print Friendly and enter the URL of the article you’d like to convert. Click the “PDF” button. Click “Download.”

That’s it.

3. Linking to a Landing Page in Your Twitter Bio

Right now, what information is in your Twitter bio? Your occupation? A personal quote that holds special meaning to you? Perhaps a hashtag? Why don’t you use that precious real estate to promote your email list? Just include a shortlink to your email optin page.

Speaking of twitter…

4. Pin a Tweet to Your Landing Page or Email Magnet

Your pinned tweet is special.

It’s high profile. It’s the first tweet people see when they visit your Twitter page. Leave it pinned long enough, and it’ll earn more favorites, retweets, and replies than all your other tweets combined. Which makes it an excellent method for acquiring email subscribers.

What kind of tweet should you pin? Well, you have several options…

You could pin popular articles that are optimized for conversions,

Blog contents that offer content upgrades,

Or you could be direct and just invite them to sign up for your list.

Now head over to Facebook and do the same thing…

5. Pin a Post to Your Facebook Page

Everything that applied to a pinned tweet applies to a pinned Facebook post. Because of its high visibility, a pinned Facebook post is going to earn more likes, more comments, and – most importantly – more clicks than a typical Facebook post.

And if the pinned Facebook post is pointing to an optimized article or landing page, those extra clicks could result in more email subscribers on your mailing list.

Because it’s Facebook, you have the added advantage of including persuasive copy to close the deal.

6. Add “Sign Up” Button to Facebook Page

In December 2014, Facebook debuted a new feature designed to help businesses meet their goals.

It’s the call-to-action button, and with it you can place a highly-visible link pointing to any destination on or off Facebook. The only shortcoming is the limited number of button options:

What color will work for you depends on your situation. All the psychology in the world won’t matter if your CTA color blends into the background, so be sure to choose a color that stands out from the rest of your blog or website.

8. Change Sign-Up Button Copy

Do you use generic copy such as “Subscribe” or “Sign Up” for your opt-in buttons? If so, here’s some bad news: according to conversion experts, it’s your CTA button’s copy – not its color or positioning – that matters most.

If you’ve never given your button’s copy a passing thought, it’s time to remedy the situation.

Keep it simple, but don’t be boring. And don’t exaggerate. It’s even okay to use two sentences so long as they are short. Another quick tip is to write them in the first person.

9. Add an Exit-Intent Popup

Did you know that over 70% of the people who leave your website will never return?

Did you know you can convert many of these abandoning users into email subscribers with one simple trick? It’s called Exit-Intent Technology. It detects user behavior and prompts them with an opt-in form when they’re about to leave.

OptinMoster lets you include this nifty trick onto your website.

10. Prominently Display Testimonials

People won’t give their hard-earned money or email address to simply anyone. They want to know you’re competent and that they are getting the best service on the internet.

So figure out a way to include testimonials on your front page. Let visitors know you’re a heavy hitter.

How to find or get these testimonials? Look at the reviews people have given you. Browse through your comments and emails. Search for mentions on social media.

11. Remove Distractions

How many widgets do you have in your website’s sidebar?

How many different calls to action are at the end of your articles?

How many choices are your visitors given?

If you’re bombarding your readers with options, how can they be expected to take the one action you want them to take?

If building your email list is important to you, (it should be) then you need to cut down on the clutter and focus on that one call to action – signing up for your email list.

Deprioritize your social media icons. Stick to one CTA for each article.

12. Stop Asking For Too Much Information

On your opt-in forms, do you ask for other things in addition to “name” and “email address”?

Ask yourself, do you need them? Do you do anything with that information?

If the answer is “no”, you need to stop asking people to provide it. Research has shown that the more information you request from readers, the less likely they are to opt-in.

13. Add Opt-In at End of Articles

Readers who reach the end of your article are primed.

Your headline grabbed their attention. Your introduction drew them in and your bullet points and anecdotes kept them on their edge of their seats.

Of the millions of articles they could have read, they read yours. And they read until the very end.

You got their attention and kept it for a while.

That’s why the end of your article is the perfect time to ask them to join your mailing list.

Also including a call to action in your author bio and the end of each article is a great way to strike while the iron is hot.

14. Take a cue from competitors, then outdo them

One-up your competitors with your lead magnet by making it bigger and better. For example, if your competition is offering a 10-point checklist, make yours a 15 or 20-point checklist.

15. Gate some of your content

Gated content is content on your website that can’t be accessed until the visitor enters their email address. The New York Times and Economist do this and it seems to be working for them. Truth be told, if you’re offering high quality content to your readers, content they’ll probably not be able to find elsewhere at the same quality and convenience, dropping their emails won’t be a hassle for them.

16. Offer coupons in exchange for email addresses

Offer a coupon in exchange for an email address instead of a traditional lead magnet if you have an eCommerce site.

17. Free software/app

Offer a free app, tool or software that requires an email address to sign up.

18. Pin your Pinterest

Pin your optin landing page on Pinterest. Then, you can boost your pin with Pinterest ads to drive even more traffic.

19. Become a Quora Influencer

Answer questions on Quora that are related to the topic of your lead magnet. This positions you as an expert in that field and grows your influence in the Quora community, a community that is growing everyday. Include a link to your optin landing page for further reference. As an “expert” people will want to hear more from you and your optin form is there to rescue them.

20. Scour the forums

Search relevant forums for questions related to the topic of your lead magnet. Then answer the question with a link to your optin landing page.

21. Make your home page an opt-in page

The strategy here is that your home page is often the most visited page on your website, and usually by people who already know you (ie return visitors). So why not use this page as an opt-in page that sells visitors on joining your email database?

This tactic really depends on what type of business you have and it likely won’t apply to most ecommerce or serviced-based businesses.

22. Write guest posts for industry leading sites

A guest post is where you write an article on somebody else’s blog. Find websites that have a big audience, and where their audience is similar to the type of people who fit your target market demographic.

You then write a kickass post and include Content Upgrade style calls-to-action within the content and within your author bio. Neil Patel does this so why can’t you?

All you need is an epic article.

23. Answer questions in Facebook groups

Same as your forum-influencer strategy, answering questions in Facebook groups will boost your visibility. Don’t post the link to your optin form unless it is allowed by the group admin. Instead, you can ask members to private message you for the link if they want it.

24. Participate in LinkedIn groups

Same strategy, different platform. Do this long enough and you’ll become known as an expert. Then you can post the link to your optin landing page when the time is right.

25. Add sharing buttons to your email signature

Add sharing buttons to your email signature, your thank you page, and to your lead magnets themselves so that your existing subscribers can spread the word for you.

26. Google +

Add a call-to-action to your Google+ Page with a link to your optin landing page.

27. Partner up

Seek out joint venture partnerships and do an exchange: they send an email to their list about your optin offer, and you send an email to your list about theirs. You both grow your lists in the process. Needless to say, both businesses have to be complementary.

28. Host a meetup

29. Pay for leads

Use paid search ads to drive qualified traffic to your optin landing page. Just make sure your lead magnet offers the answer to the question they were searching for.

30. Native ads

Still on the idea of paying for leads, use native ads to capture leads from other websites and apps that have a similar audience as yours.

31. Use a scroll box

Install a scroll box on your blog posts (works especially great for long-form content). That way, your readers are constantly aware there is more great stuff to be had if they give you their email. Use your content upgrade as the lead magnet.

32. Prominent header

As mentioned earlier, your homepage is the most visited page of your website. Include a prominent header with your call to action on it to maximise and take advantage of those eyeballs.

33. Display page-specific optin forms

In other words, don’t just show the same optin on every page or blog post… use a lead magnet or content upgrade that is specific to the content the visitor is currently viewing.

34. Use social proof

Add social proof by saying how many other people have already subscribed to your list. This only makes sense when you already have a respectable number of subscribers.

35. Show your expertise

Opinions are more common these days than table salt. Seems like everyone’s got one. But not everyone has the credibility to back it up. Add credibility by explaining what qualifies you to give them this information.

36. Skip the corporate speak and jargon

Make your optin copy relatable by avoiding corporate speak and instead using the specific language that your subscribers use when they talk normally.

37. Checkout page leverage

Add a newsletter optin checkbox to your e-commerce checkout page. If you use WooCommerce, you can use the Newsletter Subscription add on to accomplish this.

38. Assure them they won’t be spammed

Add an anti-spam policy right below the submit button on your optin form to increase conversions. For example, “Your email address is 100% secure and we will never sell your information to a 3rd party.”

39. Host Incentivised Challenge

Host a free “challenge” for a specific number of days, and require that participants enter their email address to register. For example, “30 Days Challenge to lose belly fat for New Mothers”. Their emails will serve as their ticket pass for the challenge.

40. Include a “Forward to a Friend” button in your newsletters

This is a very useful hack! Asking your existing subscribers to forward your emails to their network is a very effective way of expanding your reach.

The call to action could be at the top of your email or at the bottom just after your signature(That is assuming they read to the end). Emails are extremely shareable so you should always remind your subscribers to forward your emails to as many people as they can.

41. Reward your email subscribers

If you need ideas on how to do this, the list is endless. For instance, you can start a birthday club where you share special discounts and bonuses on their birthdays. Of course, this means that you are asking for more data than regular which means you need to have a really good magnet. The value your visitors ascribe to your lead magnet will determine if they are going to supply you that data or not.

Remembering your subscribers birthdays with gifts says a lot about your personality and that of your brand. This is one of the many ways you can keep a customer for life.

42. Comment on other blog posts

No this isn’t anything like those spam comments your website filters out. You have to really take the time to go through the article you are commenting on and give valid points or sincere commendations.

You can benefit from this in two ways. First, you catch the attention of the blog post owner which might open collaboration doors for you and second you catch the attention of other blog readers who might go on to visit your site. , and when you fill out the “website” field, use the URL to your optin landing page.

43. Add a call to action to your Facebook cover photo

If you don’t promote your website who will? Add a cover photo that represents your brand to your Facebook profile. You also want to make sure you include a CTA encouraging people to sign up with their email.

44. Use location-specific embedded forms

When writing your blog posts, particularly the ones that feature that content’s specific content upgrade, include location-specific embedded forms. The reason for this simple. You can always use their location to segment your list and send targeted content to subscribers who visited specific pages.

The fastest way to lose your email subscribers is to keep sending newsletters that are not of value to them.

45. Add a call to action to your About page

By now it should be pretty clear. Every page on your website should have a CTA and in this case, you want it to be an inline optin form. The logic behind this is simple. If people are on your “About” page it means they are curious about what you are doing.

Now you have to trust whatever information you have on that page to have convinced these visitors enough to give you their email addresses. So really, pay attention to your page copy and then support it with a good optin form.